The present invention relates to dabigatran etexilate and related substances and use of the substances as reference standards and markers. There are also provided processes of detecting the substances in samples of dabigatran etexilate, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts or solvates thereof, and also for assessing the purity of samples of dabigatran etexilate, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts or solvates thereof. There are still further provided processes of preparing dabigatran etexilate and related substances, and pharmaceutical compositions containing the same.
Dabigatran etexilate (a compound of formula (I)) is the international commonly accepted non-proprietary name for ethyl 3-{[(2-{[(4-{[(hexyloxy)carbonyl]carbamimidoyl}phenyl)amino]methyl}-1-methyl-1H-benzimidazol-5-yl)carbonyl](pyridin-2-yl)amino}propanoate, which has an empirical formula of C34H41N7O5 and a molecular weight of 627.73.

Dabigatran etexilate is the pro-drug of the active substance, dabigatran, which has a molecular formula C25H25N7O3 and molecular mass 471.51. The mesylate salt (1:1) of dabigatran etexilate is known to be therapeutically useful and is commercially marketed as oral hard capsules in the United States and in Europe under the trade mark Pradaxa™ for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Additionally, it is also marketed in Europe under the same trade mark for the primary prevention of venous thromboembolic events in adult patients who have undergone elective total hip replacement surgery or total knee replacement surgery.
Dabigatran etexilate was first described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,380, according to which the synthesis of dabigatran etexilate was carried out in three synthetic steps (see Scheme 1). Example 58 describes the condensation between ethyl 3-{[3-amino-4-(methylamino)benzoyl](pyridin-2-yl)amino}propanoate (compound II) and N-(4-cyanophenyl)glycine (compound III) in the presence of N,N′-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) in tetrahydrofuran to give the hydrochloride salt of ethyl 3-{[(2-{[(4-cyanophenyl)amino]methyl}-1-methyl-1H-benzimidazol-5-yl)carbonyl](pyridin-2-yl)amino}propanoate (compound IV), which is subsequently reacted with ethanolic hydrochloric acid, ethanol and ammonium carbonate to give the hydrochloride salt of ethyl 3-{[(2-[{(4-carbamimidoylphenyl)amino]methyl}-1-methyl-1H-benzimidazol-5-yl)carbonyl](pyridin-2-yl)amino}propanoate (compound V). Finally, example 113 describes the reaction between compound V and n-hexyl chloroformate (compound VI), in the presence of potassium carbonate, in a mixture of tetrahydrofuran and water, to give dabigatran etexilate after work-up and chromatographic purification. However, no information is given about the purity of the isolated dabigatran etexilate.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,202,368 describes an alternative process for the synthesis of dabigatran etexilate (see Scheme 2). Example 3 describes the condensation between ethyl 3-{[3-amino-4-(methylamino)benzoyl](pyridin-2-yl)amino}propanoate (compound II) and 2-[4-(1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-on-3-yl)phenylamino]acetic acid (compound VII) in the presence of a coupling agent such as N,N′-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI), propanephosphonic anhydride (PPA), or pivaloyl chloride, to give ethyl 3-{[(2-{[(4-{1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-on-3-yl}phenyl)amino]methyl}-1-methyl-1H-benzimidazol-5-yl)carbonyl](pyridin-2-yl)amino}propanoate (compound VIII), which is subsequently hydrogenated (Example 4) in the presence of a palladium catalyst to give ethyl 3-{[(2-{[(4-carbamimidoylphenyl)amino]methyl}-1-methyl-1H-benzimidazol-5-yl)carbonyl](pyridin-2-yl)amino}propanoate (compound V). Then, Example 5 describes the acylation of compound V with n-hexyl chloroformate (compound VI) to give dabigatran etexilate. Finally, Example 6 describes the conversion of dabigatran etexilate into its mesylate salt. Although the patent describes the HPLC purities of intermediate compounds II, VII, VIII and V, no information is given neither about the purity of the isolated dabigatran etexilate nor about its mesylate salt.

European Patent Applications EP 1966171A and EP 1968949A describe similar processes for the synthesis of dabigatran etexilate to that depicted in Scheme 2, but without isolating some of the intermediate compounds. HPLC purities higher than 99% are described for both dabigatran etexilate (see Examples 6B and 6C of EP 1966171A) and its mesylate salt (see Example 9 of EP 1966171A and Example 7 of EP 1968949A). However, no information is given about the structure of the impurities present in dabigatran etexilate and/or its mesylate salt.
PCT Patent Application WO 2010/045900 describes the synthesis of dabigatran etexilate mesylate with 99.5% purity by HPLC (Examples 3 and 4) by following a similar synthetic process to that described in Scheme 1. However, no information is given about the structure of the impurities present in the mesylate salt of dabigatran etexilate.
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human use (CHMP) assessment report for Pradaxa (i.e. dabigatran etexilate mesylate salt 1:1) reference EMEA/174363/2008, as published in the European Medicines Agency website on Apr. 23, 2008, describes (page 8) that the proposed specifications for impurities in the active substance are for some specified impurities above the qualification threshold of the ICH guideline “Impurities in new drug substances”, i.e. above 0.15%. However, no information is given about the structure of the impurities present in the mesylate salt of dabigatran etexilate.